Sculpture Plates and Miscellaneous Waxes

A sprue tree recently completed. Title and back plates for an upcoming large bronze sculptural piece entitled All Horizons Lost, Flesh Forever Found. Also the remake of The Ephemeral Knot title plate, and some other wax objects for future pieces.

Three sculpture title and name plates with a wax vertebrae and opossum manible.
 

A detail of the All Horizons Lost... title plate. Anterior and posterior heart views are sculpted on either side. This is the longest bronze plate I will have made, at 1.5" x 14".

The All Horizons Lost... plate on the sprue tree.

The Ephemeral Knot remake wax and the All Horizons Lost... name plate. Also a pine cone experiment. The pine cone should burn out into ash within the kiln.

A few small pieces for future sculptures. A leaf experiment, a vertebrae, and an opossum mandible.

The wax tree now in it's investment mold, waiting to go in the kiln at the University of Wisconsin foundry.

Title Plates for The Ephemeral Knot

The rough waxes of the title and name/date plates for The Ephemeral Knot. On either side of the plates are castings of human finger bones, specifically that of a fourth proximal phalange. Note all the air bubbles in the lettering that need touching up.

The corrected wax title plate and a few other items on the sprue tree.

The corrected wax name and date plate on the sprue tree.

Brushing a skin coat of investment on the waxes.

At the foundry, pouring the bronze into the plates' investment mold.

The beauty of molten bronze.

After several hours, the mold is broken open and the removal and cleaning begins.

The rough bronzes. Unfortunately, the title plate has quite a bit of flashing. Flashing is a common casting defect caused when molten metal finds tiny cracks in the investment mold. Minor flashing can be fixed but the title plate will have to be redone. The name plate flashing is slight, and should clean up well.